The present invention generally pertains to exercise apparatus and is particularly directed to improvements thereto for providing an exercise apparatus that can be adjusted for use in performing a large variety of body exercises.
Body exercises are essential for conditioning muscles. Weight lifting exercises are performed to develop and maintain muscle strength and endurance. Stretching exercises are performed to develop and maintain muscle resistance to pulling and tearing. And exercises also have been devised for developing and maintaining muscle speed. Whereas muscle strength and endurance are developed and maintained by moving the largest weights that the muscles can force; muscle speed is developed and maintained by moving the lightest weights that provide substantial resistance to movement.
An apparatus has been devised for performing muscle speed development exercises. In such an apparatus a predetermined constant resistance to movement in a given direction is provided by a rotary hydraulic actuator and which is attached to a bar that is disposed for rotation against the resistance provided by the actuator. The predetermined constant resistance provided by the hydraulic actuator can be adjusted to simulate a relatively light weight, thereby enabling the performance of muscle speed development exercises. The hydraulic circuit for the hydraulic actuator also can be adjusted to simulate heavy weights to enable the performance of muscle strength and endurance exercises.
However, such apparatus is limited in the variety of exercises for which it may be used. One important exercise that cannot be performed with this equipment, or with any other commercially available exercise apparatus for that matter, is a hamstring flex exercise wherein a person in a relatively supine position pushes outward and downward against a predetermined constant resistance with the lower part of the leg from a position wherein the leg is held straight and bent as far as possible from the plane of the body at the hip. This hamstring flex exercise stretches and strengthens the hamstring muscle and thereby dimishes the likelihood of the hamstring muscle being pulled. This exercise is particularly important to athletes who do a considerable amount of running. Frequent running strengthens the quad muscle (which is the opposing muscle to the hamstring) to such an extent that hamstring pulls become more frequent due to an increased strength ratio of the quad to the hamstring.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a universed exercise apparatus which can be used to perform a large variety of muscle strength and endurance stretching and speed exercises, and that such apparatus be useful for performing the hamstring flex exercise described hereinabove.